In several scenes when actor Alan Reed, as Harry Patullo, breaks into loud and hearty laughter, his very famous "Fred Flintstone" (his voice work from the animated series The Flintstones (1960)) laugh is unmistakable.
Based on the stage play "Ladies and Gentlemen" written by Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht. This courtroom drama, which centers on the relationship that develops between two sequestered jurors, Miss Scott and Mr. Campbell, during a lengthy murder trial, was inspired by a Hungarian play "Twelve in a Box" by Leslie Bush-Fekete.
When Terry is walking into the diner for lunch after being chosen as a juror, there is a sign across the street for Glasser Brothers Bail Bonds. This was a real bonding company, which operated on South Main between First and Second streets in downtown Los Angeles beginning in the 1920s. The business had some notorious clientele, including mobster Mickey Cohen. The brothers' connection with Cohen resulted in a subpoena for the business from Sen. Estes Kefauver's crime committee in 1951.
Margalo Gilmore, who plays the straight-laced juror Mrs. Bradford, may be familiar to Baby Boomers. She played Mrs. Darling, the mother of Wendy and her siblings, in both the 1954 and 1960 TV productions of Peter Pan, both of which featured Mary Martin in the title role. NBC re-ran them annually for years. She was also an old friend of playwrights Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, dating back to the 1920's when she was a member of the Algonquin Round Table, a famed New York group of witty writers, actors and artists.
This film marks a reunion between Rogers and Morgan who previously co-starred in the highly successful Kitty Foyle playing lovers, for which Ginger won the 1940 Academy Award as Best Actress. According to Rogers, she and Morgan had wanted to work together again ever since and Perfect Strangers provided them with the perfect opportunity. Since that pairing, Rogers had notably become a free agent in Hollywood. Ginger Rogers reportedly took the role after Lauren Bacall turned it down.